2018 NBA Draft: With few surprises and picks going pretty much as planned, here are our five takeaways

Luka Doncic poses with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver after being drafted third overall by the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday. He was later traded to Dallas. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

MIAMI – The NBA draft went mostly according to form with few surprises.

The Phoenix Suns kicked off Thursday’s draft by selecting the player they have been linked to for several weeks, Arizona’s Deandre Ayton, with the No. 1 pick. By the end of the night, 60 players were selected, but none by the Miami Heat, who entered the night without a pick and did not make a move to get into either the first or second round.

Here are our 5 quick hits from the night:

The Doncic Dilemma: One of the bizarre moments of the draft was Luka Doncic talking about playing for the Mavericks while wearing a Hawks hat. Atlanta made the selection with the No. 3 pick after agreeing to swap first rounders with Dallas. The Mavericks then took Trae Young at No. 5 and the deal was completed (the Hawks also received a future protected first-round pick). The 6-foot-7 Doncic has been a professional since he was 15-years-old and comes into the NBA with stunning credentials for an 18-year-old after a year in which he teamed with Goran Dragic to help Slovania win the EuroBasket championship and being named MVP of the EuroLeauge and EuroLeauge Final 4.

LeBron’s future teammate?: One of the biggest question marks entering the draft had to do with the Cavaliers’ first-round pick. Would Cleveland use the No. 8 overall selection in a trade to acquire a star to play next to LeBron James? Nope. The Cavaliers used the pick to draft Alabama point guard Collin Sexton, who averaged 18.6 points and 3.3 assists as a freshman last season. Now the question is, will Sexton get to play with LeBron? The Heat were in a similar situation in 2014, when they added a point guard by the name of Shabazz Napier in the first round just weeks before LeBron left in free agency to sign with the Cavaliers.

Jubilation to disappointment: The happiest family in the draft room was Villanova’s Mikal Bridges and his mom, Tyneeha Rivers, when Bridges was selected by the hometown Philadelphia 76ers, and his mom’s employer, with the 10th overall pick. Rivers is the vice president of human resources for the 76ers and was elated when the pick was announced. But the idea of mom and son carpooling to work lasted about 20 minutes before the Sixers traded Bridges to Phoenix for Zhaire Smith, who was taken 16th, and a 2021 first-round pick. Both of those Phoenix picks were acquired from Miami for Goran Dragic.

Mikal Bridges and his mom were so excited when he got drafted by Sixers.

The curious case of Michael Porter Jr.: Just months ago, the words “Michael Porter Jr.” and “the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft” were mentioned in the same sentence. But due to injury concerns regarding his back, Porter slipped all the way to the Nuggets at No. 14. There’s no question that Porter is talented, but his health was a big red flag. He suffered a back injury two minutes into his first game as a freshman at Missouri and did not return until the SEC tournament. This is one of those situations that the one-and-done rule really played a big role in. Porter could have been the first pick in last year’s draft had the rule not been in place.

Miami represented in draft: The Miami Heat had a quiet night with no picks, but the Miami Hurricanes were well-represented Thursday. San Antonio drafted former Hurricanes guard Lonnie Walker in the first round with the 18th overall pick and Detroit selected former Hurricanes guard Bruce Brown in the second round with the 42nd overall pick. Walker left Miami after one season and Brown left Miami after two seasons. No other players from in-state colleges were drafted this year.

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